Friday, December 11, 2015

review || IMPOSSIBLE END { blitz } by Sybil Bartel

Blaze
I stood by my brothers in the Marines and fought for my country. I gave my blood, sweat and flesh so that others could have a taste of freedom.

But my wife wasn’t free.

She’d been hunted, stalked, and forced to keep a secret no one should have to live with. I’d made her a promise. Her freedom, my rules, no questions asked. I thought I’d kept my promise but I made a mistake—a rookie mistake.

Now I was going to finish what I started. I was done playing games with the killer who’d murdered my wife’s parents and tracked her for sport. If he thought he was safe in a jail cell, he was wrong. No one puts out a hit on my wife and survives.

This ends now. I protect what’s mine…at whatever cost.

IMPOSSIBLE END is the conclusion to the Unchecked Series. This novella is from Blaze’s point of view and is not a stand alone. To get the full story, please read the first two books in the series, IMPOSSIBLE PROMISE and IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE.

{ about sybil bartel } .

Sybil Bartel grew up in Northern California with her head in a book and her feet in the sand. She dreamt of becoming a painter but the heady scent of libraries with their shelves full of books drew her into the world of storytelling. She loves the New Adult genre, but any story about a love so desperately wrong and impossibly beautiful makes her swoon.

Sybil now resides in Southern Florida and while she doesn’t get to read as much as she likes, she still buries her toes in the sand. If she isn’t writing or fighting to contain the banana plantation in her backyard, you can find her spending time with her handsomely tattooed husband, her brilliantly practical son and a mischievous miniature boxer…

But Seriously?

Here are ten things you probably really want to know about Sybil.

She grew up a faculty brat. She can swear like a sailor. She loves men in uniform. She hates being told what to do. She can do your taxes (but don’t ask). The Bird Market in Hong Kong freaks her out. Her favorite word is desperate…or dirty, or both—she can’t decide. She has a thing for muscle cars. But never reply on her for driving directions, ever. And she has a new book boyfriend every week—don’t tell her husband.

To find out more about Sybil Bartel, be sure to follow her on Twitter (she loves to hear about your favorite book boyfriend!), visit her website, like her on Facebook or join her Facebook group Book Boyfriend Heroes for exclusive excerpts and giveaways

{ excerpt } .

I put my mouth against her throat and whispered, “Do you know what you feel like?”

“No,” she rasped.

“Like everything I’ve ever wanted.”

Her body stilled, her eyes opened and I released my tight grip in her hair as she brought her head up.

“Blaze,” she breathed, staring into my soul.

“Everything,” I repeated.

Her hand landed on my heart. “I love you.”

“I know.” Every part of her body changed when she looked at me. Her shoulders lifted, her back went straight, her eyes turned to liquid heat and her pulse raced. I knew how she felt about me.

She pushed her fingers into my hair. “I’ll still always tell you.”

“I know.” She needed the words. I didn’t. I didn’t throw out words when I had actions.

Her forehead creased and her hands stilled. “What if I never told you again?”

“It would change nothing.”

She turned her head and dropped her arms.

I grabbed her chin and brought her back to me. I’d been waiting for this to come up. I never told her I loved her in response to her telling me. It cheapened it. “But I would miss it,” I said honestly.

“Would you?” It wasn’t a question. It was an accusation.

“Yes.”

“I miss it.”

“How many other women have I come inside?” I asked calmly.

The color drained from her face.

“How many?” I demanded.

She swallowed.

“You know this,” I reminded her. “Answer me.”

“None,” she whispered.

I dropped my Marine face. “You don’t need the words,” I slowly annunciated, letting her see the man I was, not the warrior I’d been trained to be.

Her eyes welled with unshed tears.

Then I gave her the fierce truth that meant more to me than any three words. “I would die for you.”

{ review } .

This was likely my favorite of the three books, and I absolutely loved that it was in Blaze's voice.

Layna is an extremely emotional person, and at times it could be border-line annoying while reading in her voice. While Blaze does make mention of Layna's emotions and her ability to crack, reading in his eyes was refreshing.

This last part in the story of Layna and Blaze has them on their honeymoon -- but nothing is ever that simple when it comes to these two. I enjoyed the action-suspense that Ms. Bartel put in this small chunk of story -- almost more that the suspense sequence in the first book when Layna was being chased. This story takes place over hours rather than days, but the emotion and care that Blaze has for his now-wife is palpable. I thoroughly enjoyed the emotion on Blaze's side of the story.

I'm sad to see these two go, but I imagine that there is more coming in their future. The next stories that spin off of this involve Talon and crew, so I'm hopeful for Blaze/Layna sightings.

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a quick note from { mignon } ...

I AM NO LONGER ACTIVE IN REVIEWING

The last two years has been incredibly rewarding, giving me the opportunity to pick up new-to-me authors, as well as new-to-the-world authors. I have enjoyed supporting publishing houses as well as the indie author, and in doing so, I learned a lot about the marketing aspect of writing a book and selling it as a self-published author.

I have re-focused my journey to more writing-minded. I still read and review! But not nearly at the rate I was; three books a day has turned to three books a month.

I will no longer be accepting individual review requests (unless it's specifically author-to-author, then it will be highly considered).

I will definitely be posting reviews for commitments I have already made, though.Thank you for understanding, & thank you to all those I have worked with over the last year plus!

GOODREADS updates

He is the exact public person I despise. You know the type -- all biblical with publicized praying and verses all over his public persona. Great. Good for you. Bet you're not like that behind closed doors...

Which is exactly what Esther thinks of him.

Saint and Esther attend the same super religious college. Esther is on the fast track to becoming a nun, and no I do not kid, and Saint, given name Francis, can do just about whatever he wants, because he is the star athlete and the school knows he has connections. What in the world can these two have in common? The actions of their parents.

But where Saint does what his father says, usually, because his father is pushing him toward a pro-football careers, Esther follows her parents (father) because if she didn't... Her life would literally be a living hell.

I really enjoyed these two, once we started to get to know Saint a little bit better. My only drawback with the book would be the last half goes by in super-fast time. While it helped to keep the story moving, I would have liked to see more of that time drawn out so the feelings and emotions of our two characters felt more genuine and real -- rather than simply a two month courting that their lives demanded.

I'm giving the book the full 5 stars because it came out of left-field for me. It was a book that I didn't expect to like, but the author wove it in a way that I fell hard for our characters both as individuals and as a couple. I liked watching Esther grow and find her voice in life, just as I liked watching playboy, always for the chase Saint, settle down and find a person to be terribly protective over. I loved him most in the last two chapters.

Here's something you may know about me if you've followed my reviews -- I'm an epilogue reader. I will almost always read the epilogue first. Call me a spoilsport or no fun, or whatever but that's how I've been reading books for years. It's no wonder that when I write books, I tend to have the epilogue all figured out before I even start with "Once upon a time...".

That said... I read this epilogue and while I liked it, I just couldn't get past the ages of our characters. Couldn't do it. So I read the beginning. Still... If anything, the age of our characters was even more pronounced. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to read this. You see, I have an issue with "Happily ever after" and the hardly-twenty crowd, let alone an eighteen year old.

But that's my hang-up.

Another thing you may know about me? I will sometimes read a book in what I call a inside-out fashion. I jump all over the place until I find a snippet of story that absolutely grips me. And people -- there are a few of those parts in Everything. So because I found those gripping parts, I put my faith in Erin Noelle, and I started from page one -- and I gave Everett and Belle a chance.

And I'm so glad I did.

Everett and his twin sister have been making music forever -- literally. They're the children of a rockstar; music has always been their life. When their father's group decides to get back together (dad always said he'd go back when the twins were done with school), Mason tells the label -- if you take me, you're taking my kids: thus, giving Everett and Ashlynn the opportunity to take their music to a larger level than they have before.

Along the way, with a local gig, Everett meets Belle -- and so begins their story.

This is a story about growing up. This is a story about following your heart -- be it for a person or a career, or even both. It is about learning to trust the person you are giving your heart to, and about taking the ever-looming jump into unknown feelings. When you put your life, your wants, your desires in someone else's hands, the world opens up -- and it certainly does for Everett and Belle.

The part I most appreciated was that the author made Everett true to his age and situation. Belle was too, yes, but it was Everett and his new lifestyle that had me wanting to see true characterization for. He's a guy; he's a musician; he's new to love. He makes mistakes. And for those mistakes, I truly got on board with this story.

Everett and his Tinker Bell were incredibly cute. I liked that there's a decent time jump at the end, further allowing -- you guessed it -- growth of our characters. I'm excited to watch more of them when (if?) Ashlynn's story comes out.

TOURING with ...

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FTC Disclosure

Unless otherwise stated, all books I review are books I've received for free from the author or publisher. I receive nothing, monetary or otherwise, for expressing my opinion and/or promoting the books. I do, however, participate in the Amazon Affiliate program, and as such I do receive a small commission when these links are clicked. Affiliate links and free books in no way affect my opinion.